Special Needs Education Working Group /
SENNET
S ER I OU S G A M ES F O R I N C L U S I O N: 1 3 J U N E 2 0 1 3
B R U S S E LS
R EP O R T ( DR A F T )
Present:
Jan De Craemer (BE, chair)
Vero Vanden Abeele (BE)
Roger Blamire (BE)
David Brown (UK)
Katja Engelhardt (BE)
Elina Jokisalo (BE)
Yves Kalisa (BE)
Henk Lamers (NL)
Marijn Kraakman (NL)
Line Knudsen (DK)
Tanja Maes and Simeon (BE)
Silvia Panzavolta (IT)
Jan Rottier, (BE)
Merje Pors (EE)
Stefan Schürz (AT)
Antonella Turchi (IT)
Ivan Venturi (IT)
Vicky Vermeulen (BE)
Jochen Vrancken (BE)
Terry Waller (UK)
Annik Willems (NL)
Axel Zahlhut (AT)
Pia Zeidler (DK)
Karel Zova (EE)
Apologies: Jale Akbas and Rziye Erdem (TR), Ida Brandao (PT)
Aims of the meeting:
 To raise awareness of the potential of games for learners with special needs
 To share successes and issues
 To identify future actions
0915 Welcome, introduction
0930 Special needs and games: state of the art
Professor David J. Brown, Interactive Systems Research Group, School of Science &
Technology, Nottingham Trent University, United Kingdom
Venue: European Schoolnet, Brussels
Prof. Brown’s field is learners with intellectual disabilities and much of his work relates to the
use of games.
His presentation (on SENnet website) covered the following points.
1. Games are interesting for SEN pupils
They:
o Engage learners in sufficient repetition to ensure that learning takes place (Pivec)
o Provide life experience, engagement with knowledge and people (Blamire)
o Allow them to work on their own pace, make mistakes without irritating others (SalemDarrow)
o Help to learn to monitor more objects in visual field and faster, and increase spatial
resolution as visual processing (Green & Bavelier)
o Improve choice reaction time and independent decision making (Standen & Brown)
SEN students have very specific needs: games must be age and ability appropriate and should
not contain any violence or gambling themes (not allowed at school). As most commercial off
the shelf (COTS) games do not meet these criteria, the team at Nottingham creates games.
In discussion, Roger Blamire (EUN) wondered whether there was a problem with the quality of
the self-created video games. David J. Brown (UK) replied that games crated in Flash did
indeed have the potential not to impress the students.
2. There is valuable evidence in reports and studies on games and education
In particular the following:
Games in Education: Serious Games - A Futurelab literature review (2010)
http://media.futurelab.org.uk//resources/documents/lit_reviews/Serious-Games_Review.pdf
o Summarises the current use, classification and how teachers are supported to use games
o Many definitions/ ways of classifying educational games, serious games, and their
relationship to virtual worlds and simulations
o Serious games are the accepted term for games with an educational intent:
 Need to be engaging, although not necessarily fun, while the learning can be
implicit or explicit
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o
Channel 4, the Parliamentary Education Group, DEFRA and the US government
commission games to engage and educate young people
Roger Blamire (EUN) and Vero Vanden Abeele (BE) commented that one issue was that
some parents were against games, because they did not perceive them as a possible learning
activity.
Recommendations from the Futurelab literature review
o If games are to become mainstream classroom tools, teachers (who are often not
gamers) need to support to:
1. Identify what games are available that meet their learning objectives;
2. How the games can best be integrated into lessons given the context;
3. How learning can be assessed.
Jan de Craemer (BE) commented that while there was generally a lot of reluctance towards the
integration of games in mainstream education, special schools were more open to experiment
with different tools, including games.
3. Examples for students with SEN: EU Game On, GOAL, GOET
http://isrg.org.uk/projects/, http://goet-project.eu
o Game ON: engaging and motivating games-based learning materials created to
encourage development of basic, personal and work
sustainability skills in prisoners, those at risk of offending and
ex-offenders, including those with disabilities
o GOAL and GOET: to improve work based learning and
develop vocational skills like to support people with severe
disabilities in finding and keeping a job
Example Games: Cheese Factory, My Appearance, Virtual
Supermarket (http://goet-project.eu/downloads/games/)
 All games are Open Source games, available in 5 languages
 Important: games have embedded accessibility models (extra graphical texts,
alternative texts, additional interaction possibilities, etc.)
4. Effectiveness studies
For David J. Brown (UK), a major problem is that there is not a strong tradition in education
for efficacy studies, as for example in health. Roger Blamire (EUN) commented that it was
harder to measure outcomes in education than in health. David J. Brown (UK) replied that he
did not see why. As for other areas to investigate, he pointed out that a closer cooperation
between research on gaming and robotics could be very fruitful. As many SEN students suffer
from damages to their central nervous system, it is necessary to think about very advanced
interaction systems.
Evaluation study on Mathematical skills
o Research Question: Can participating in serious games improve the understanding of
SEN students of fractions, percentages and decimals in students?
o Study design: matched pairs; 8 students using intervention software to improve
mathematical skills, 8 students using battery of control games for five weeks (20 minute
weekly sessions)
 Difficulty: how to match pairs, as disabled people are a very heterogeneous group
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o
Result: those who played the intervention software performed better than control group
 Proves that games like “cheese factory” can improve mathematical abilities
Vero Vanden Abeele (BE) was of the opinion that comparing two different games was not a
meaningful comparison, as the underlying question was whether such a game was more useful
than a teacher teaching the same content to the student. Stefan Schürz (CH) agreed that the
teacher had to be convinced that the game was better than conventional teaching.
5. Alternative views
o Computer games can have negative effects, as they play an important role but real
relationships with people and nature, real hands-on activities ect. are more important
(Alliance for childhood) www.allianceforchildhood.org
o Video games promote overly rational modes of thought and remove people from the
interaction they need with the real world (Monke)
o One the most fundamental, and most dangerous, errors of the video-game-as-educator
argument is that what takes place on the screen is a fair and adequate model of what
takes place in real life (Monke)
Karel Zova (EE) commented that people in those discussions most often looked at extremes,
as if games were to replace conventional teaching. Jan de Craemer (BE) added that the
problem with research was that it would always be possible to find a study supporting any of the
opposing views. In his opinion, games were just another learning tool, which can be effective,
depending on the learning environment. David J. Brown (UK) agreed that games were not a
universal method, since a whole range of methods was necessary. He emphasized that games
were never meant to replace real life experience, but to prepare for it. As a lot of carers of SEN
children are massively overprotective, a game, for example, on the topic supermarket can be a
useful preparation for a real life experience for them. Jan de Cramer (BE) added that user
experience research can be more valuable than a traditional efficacy study. Roger Blamire
(EUN) argued that communication on efficacy was less spread regarding SNE topics: as these
seem to be self-contained worlds; it is a challenge to trigger more exchange.
David J. Brown (UK) concluded with five questions to ponder during the day:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
To what extent are games used with learners with special needs?
What types of games are in use?
What are the benefits to SEN students?
What are the ethical and safety issues?
What are the barriers to use?
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1030 Special needs and games: issues and trends
Roger Blamire (EUN) introduced a discussion on developments and issues in the topic.

Technical equipment in schools
Vero Vanden Abeele (BE) mentioned that the technology present in school might represent a
barrier, as a lot of games were apps based and tablets necessary for their use. Stefan Schürz
(CH) generally saw a good potential for the use of tablets in schools, as they allow for a better
interaction.

Adaptability and availability of games
Jan Rottier (BE) pointed out that the adaptability of games was important, so the game could
be at the right level of challenge. Ivan Venturi (IT) added that the issue of the adaptability of
games to attract more users became generally more important in the gaming industry. Karel
Zova (EE) added that another problem was the availability of games in languages other than
English. Jan de Craemer (BE) replied that it should sometimes be possible to use the game in
another language. Karel Zova (EE) commented that that depended on the type of disability.

Video games and violence; use of conventional games in school
Jochen Vrancken (BE) wanted to know why games with violent contents were forbidden at
school. As the age appropriateness of the games had already been evaluated, there should be no
need to re-evaluate. David J. Brown (UK) replied that it was not him but teachers insisting on
this rule.
Jan de Craemer (BE) commented that it was ultimately up to the teacher to re-evaluate any
learning content he used. According to David J. Brown (UK), there was no real evidence that
violent video games made people more violent. Ivan Venturi (IT) disagreed, as he was of the
opinion that video games (e.g. videos and cartoons) could possibly trigger violence.
David J. Brown (UK) stated that teachers often wanted specifically designed games for the use
in school. Silvia Panzavolta (IT) stated that teachers did not use commercial games, as they did
not see the educational objective, but they had to make the effort to understand how to use
commercial games, as they were very different from games made by the teachers themselves.
In Ivan Venturi’s (IT) opinion, it is a problem that teachers often have very little game culture
and getting acquainted with games takes a lot of time. For teachers, commercial videogames and
didactical software might be the same, but not for the students. Teachers are the gatekeepers to
the use of games at school.

The topic of Gaming in the Horizon report
Finally, Roger Blamire (EUN) concluded that gaming was a complex issue, which is also
shown by the Horizon report (http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2013-horizon-report-k12.pdf). This
report shows that while a lot of other trends in ICT have been correctly predicted, serious games
did not develop as fast as predicted.
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1100: Break
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1130: Examples of good practice
1. Research and development in Assistive Technology and Special Needs, Stefan
Schürz, Lifetool, Austria (http://www.lifetool.at/startseite.html):
o The non-profit organization Lifetool aims to develop hardware and
software for children with disabilities (Head Quarters in Linz and 5
Consulting Centers):
 Each game has to pass test to be on the list of content
 A lot of attention is paid to virtual and acoustic design (special effects can be
switched off/ tasks also visual for people with hearing impairments)
 Settings/ options are crucial: wide range of levels, profile for each student (with
results)
 Motor requirements: Big cursor, big objects, all inputs accessible by just one click
 All games available in several languages
Stefan Schürz (AT) presented 4 Lifetool games:
1. The collection of entertaining animation games “Play with me”:
o PC software for about 70 Euro
o Animation games like catching eggs, birds
o 2 people can play together (to collaborate/as opponents)
2. Wheel Sim
o Game to learn to use a wheel chair/ improve road safety
o Game simulates functionality of an electronic wheel chair
o Game was produced with university, Lifetool and end users
 Very successful
 Used as decision making tool, to show to insurance company if
person is able to use a wheel chair (a lot of statistics available)
3. Puzzle World
o Collection of well know puzzle games, primarily designed for
children who are not able to use normal puzzles
o 4 different puzzles designs, a lot of possibilities to adapt level of
difficulty
4. Switch Trainer
o Programme to learn how to use 2 switches in computer operation
o Designed for physically impaired children with or without learning
disability
o For example, first game teaches: if you switch, there will be an animation
2. WaiNot, an environment for pupils with severe mental disabilities: games, learning
and communication tools, Tanja Maes, Belgium (http://www.wai-not.be):
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Tanja Maes presented, together with Simeon, the ambassador of the project (who has
Down;s Syndrome), the platform WaiNot:
o WaiNot is a safe online environment in Flemish accessible via a free login, providing
the following activities. All text is spoken aloud (in Flemish) so there is no need to be
able to read:
 Emailing (not necessary to be able to read and write), 2 options:
1. Using pictograms (will be translated to words and back)
2. Using voice recording (up to 1 minute)
 Reading news (adapted: in easy language, with pictograms/voice recordings)
 Games section (games train cognitive/motor skills)
 Activities section: Tips on events fully accessible to disabled people
 Website gives possibility to monitor activities of the users
1230 Lunch
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1315 Games demonstrations and hands-on (carousel activities in the Future
Classroom Lab)
1. Mathematics with remediation/differentiation possibilities: Monkey tales (Die
keure), Vicky Vermeulen, die Keure Educatief, Belgium
(http://www.educatief.diekeure.be/educatief/index.php)
o 3D fun game (to compete with other fun games) which allows children to
acquire math skills and learn at their own pace:
 The aim is to save monkeys, to master a series of rooms with
obstacles
 Mini games on math allow for repetition of what has already
been learned at school (age 7-12)
 Adaptive exercise (the level of the next exercise is adjusted based on
the results of the previous one)
 Suitable both to slow and very advanced learners
 Game follows national curricula (adapted to each country)
 50 Euro PC game, demo available on website
2. Games for health: Heelseeker and hyperactivity, Johnson and Johnson, Belgium
(www.izovator-healthgames.nl/healseeker.htm; video clip
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjJkOPE_ZFY)
o Game “Heelseeker” (Planet Commander) for ADHD patients developed by team of
content specialists, commercial specialists (inhouse & external experts). Cost: 37
Euros.
o Starting point: ADHD has side effects in behavior: people have difficulties with
time management, planning, and social skills, all of which are a burden for
hyperactive young people
 The idea is a gamification of those skills (possibly also interesting for
other students)
o Goal of the game: find minerals, adventure game with team activities
(possibility to meet other players online), planning dimension
 Implicit learning (students do not have the impression they are
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o
o
learning)
It is a web-based game in Dutch, English and German, for students 8-12 years
old, takes 22 hours to play in full – visiting all planets and completing the
activities. You can play against the computer or against another person live
online (importance of fixing a rendezvous time and keeping to it – role of
parents to reinforce and support is important)
Crucial issue: validation process:
 Could validation process for games be lighter than for medicine?
 So far proof of concept in a randomized controlled trial with 45 ADHD
patients
 Difficult to use in school because of timetable constraints - time needed
to complete the game.
3. Accessible games: Nicolas Eymerich, Ivan Venturi, TiconBLU Srl, Italy
(http://www.eymerich.it/index.php?lang=eng&center=thegame)
o The Inquisitor audio game is an adaptation of the Nicolas Eymerich adventure game
and is playable in English, Latin and Italian, on an iPad using touch, with one or
two fingers by blind people; it is compliant with Italian guidelines for dyslexic
people:
 Target group: as of 12 years
 Version for blind is the same 3D scenario with additional audio instructions (as
the blind testing the game preferred a game with the same level of complexity
instead of a simplified version)
 Positive feedback on the fact that mainstream content was adopted (instead of
producing specific “politically correct” content)
 The app costs 13 Euro, and there have been almost 1000 downloads so far with
no promotion (70% in the US). Even so it is difficult to market such a product
globally – Ivan writes on blogs and other social media channels.
 Useful links:
o To find easy and quick info about the game functions:
http://www.eymerich.it/index.php?center=audiogame&lang=eng
o Forum topic on Audiogames.net talking about the Inquisitor
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o
o
Audiogame: http://forum.audiogames.net/viewtopic.php?id=10073
Impressions that blind users had: link to the iOS version on iTunes:
www.appstore.com/theInquisitorAudiogameAdventure
International trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=as1J7bXxDAk.
4. Kung Fu Kitchen and Theraplay, Vero Vanden Abeele, GroepT Institute for
Higher Education
Vero presented a collection of cognitive and physical challenges in Kinect-based
motion-sensitive games used by physiotherapists with patients who have to repeat
certain movements (including management system to monitor players’ activities). The
games which can be downloaded and used are proof of concept developed according to
a user-centred design process, and ‘need polishing’; there is no commercial partner as
yet. All rewards are positive (unlike games on the Wii which have three lives).
 Kitchen Kungfu (catching plates), Dragon flying, Cooking Game (for the
severly physically handicapped), Egg hunting
 To be controlled with movements of arms, legs or the head
 A lot of possibilities to adjust the level of difficulty, graphics
 The aim was to create games, which are appropriate both regarding the age
of the users and the cognitive level
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1530 Panel discussion: 'Games, accessibility and the future classroom: making it
happen’ (plenary)
Advice to developers
Roger Blamire (EUN) opened the first part of the discussion, a “user panel” with the question
what the group could do to help/support developers who have demonstrated their games that
day, as it was often difficult to market such projects and raise awareness.
Ivan Venturi (IT) stressed the following points:
o
o
o
o
It would be useful, if this game could be promoted within other networks of blind
people
The accessibility of “normal” video games needs to be improved
Crucial that such projects become economically sustainable (as other means of funding
will not be available on a long-term basis)
 The goal has to be to create a product interesting for the user at a good price
Specifically on games for blind: for this game the whole structure of the game and
production pipeline was adapted from the beginning to blind people
 It is not as easy to only add features afterwards
 More interesting to sell the audiovisual version together with the version with
graphics in one package
Terry Waller (UK) commented that in the UK, there were particular charities to promote such
products, such as the Royal National Institute for the Blind [http://www.rnib.org.uk/] and other
routes of promotion through users and bloggers existed. Roger Blamire (EUN) agreed that
using users as ambassadors was a good option.
Vero Vanden Abeele (BE) stressed the following points:
o The huge cultural diversity of Europe is not easy for developers
 As it is not easy to find a business model for this kind of software, local support is
necessary
 Problematic: Discrepancy between very expensive medical software, which can be
refunded and software which has to be able to work in an average classroom
Pia Zeidler (DK) commented that such games could be marketed by commercial game
suppliers. Vero Vanden Abeele (BE) replied that selling such a game, for example, via
Nintendo channels could be an option but then it would cost at least 40 Euro and a console in
the classroom would be necessary. Stefan Schürz (CH) was impressed with the game “Kung
Fu Kitchen and Theraplay” and thought that it should be possible to promote such a game, as
only a laptop and connectivity were necessary.
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Business models
The second part of the discussion was originally dedicated to a “Developer Panel”, allowing
for feedback and comments from users, but was also focused on the question of different
business models for SEN games. Jochen Vrancken (BE) wondered whether all the games
presented that day were commercially viable, as commercialisation was the starting point for
almost all of them. In his opinion, if the games were financially viable, they could be interesting
for bigger companies; if not, money had to be made available for open source games. Stefan
Schürz (CH) mentioned as one barrier to marketing, that as long as the software was not
certified as a medical product, less institutions were interested. As another option for marketing,
Ivan Venturi (IT) mentioned festivals on serious games and health in the US and the
Netherlands. Roger Blamire (EUN) commented that one problem was to fund the participation
at such events. Terry Waller (UK) mentioned Inclusive Technology whose product
HelpKidzLearn [http://www.helpkidzlearn.com/] is one example of a successful business
model: Their online games can be accessed via an annual home subscription of 14.40 Euro and
119 Euro for schools. Stefan Schürz (AT) explained the business model of his NGO Lifetool
was to sell own products as well as other products. Roger Blamire (EUN) commented that the
parents appreciated the expertise of a small company.
Jan de Craemer (BE) wondered if European Schoolnet had already experience with CPD
courses on games, as this could be another angle for the promotion of games. Roger Blamire
(EUN) replied that there should be some activities on the topic within the eTwinning project,
but that there had been no other initiatives so far and that it was difficult to make the case for
that.
Enabling factors for gaming in schools
Terry Waller (UK) commented that teachers in the UK do not wait for research; they buy
tablets and develop networks. Before, teachers were more afraid to adapt technology but
portable devices offer new possibilities, as they can be passed around and are less likely to
break. According to Henk Lamers (NL), the most important question was not which specific
technology would be used, but how to redesign education.
Roger Blamire (EUN) stated, that according to the survey “The survey of schools: ICT in
education” (http://www.eun.org/observatory/surveyofschools), over 80% of the teachers
thought that radical changes were needed to remove major barriers and implement ICT in
schools. According to Karel Zova (EE), one major barrier was the topic assessment. He added
that one problem of small countries was, that their markets were ignored by big companies, as
the same business models did not work; so devices entered the market only several years later
and at a higher price.
The Future Classroom Lab: Additional equipment and tools
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Roger Blamire (EUN) launched a discussion on what additional equipment it would be useful
to purchase for the Future Classroom Lab, as a small budget of 2000 Euro was available. Jan de
Craemer (BE) replied all the games; Stefan Schürz (CH) said his games or software to mirror
the ipad screen on a computer. Terry Waller (UK) proposed access devices for universal
inclusion such as different types of keyboards or software that highlights/reads out words from
the screen. Line Knudsen (DK) proposed sign language interpretation online. Terry Waller
(UK) pointed out that there were interesting resources (for free and paid) available for the
hearing impaired, visual learning, online sign support.
ITAG invitation
Finally, Roger Blamire (EUN) announced on behalf of David J. Brown (UK) that a
conference (ITAG) was going to take place in Nottingham in October 2013, which could be
very interesting to attend. According to him, it would be useful to offer at least a poster session.
--Jan de Craemer (BE) concluded the meeting saying that a lot of useful input to a SENnet
innovation report has been provided and that brining the issue of gaming to other EUN projects
was one of SENnet’s advocacy roles.
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